Bath Place Hotel ★★☆

Room 3 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford

Room 5 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford, Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 6 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford, Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 2 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford, Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

The entrance to Bath Place Hotel, Oxford, Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 8 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford, Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 9 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford, Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 12 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford, Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

A classic, creaky old B&B of a hotel bang in the center of Oxford

The entrance to Bath Place Hotel, Oxford

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Room 5 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 6 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 2 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

The entrance to Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 8 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 9 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

Room 12 at Bath Place Hotel, Oxford (Photo courtesy of Bath Place Hotel)

This is my favorite plce to stay in Bath, a series of cozy rooms on a tiny alley in the center. This is a picture-perfect British B&B—tiny rooms, steep stairs, homey decor. It is far from fancy, and lacks some amaneities, but I love it all the more for that.

If you can't handle steep stairs, opt for a ground floor or first floor room (the stairs up thte second floor truly are steep).

One drawback: the merriment from Turf Tavern, just around a bend in the alley, can be a bit loud a bit late into the evening, and if your room overlooks Bath Place you may be subjected to noisy patrons stumbling home beneath your window.

What now comprises the inn was converted from a clutch of 17C cottages built by Flemish weavers against the medeival city walls (a bit of which you can see in the dining room). In the 19C, the daughter of one residents, Jane Burden (her married name became Jane Morris), posed for Dante Gabrielle Rossetti and became something of a muse and permier model for the Pre-Raphaelites.

It also featured in Jude the Obscure, and was once home to Dorothy L. Sayers.

In the early 20C, Bath Place served as privleged housing for Merton College students, then nearby Turf Tavern bought it and converted it into B&B rooms (most famously, it was a love nest for Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor when Burton was performing at Oxford Playhouse). Since 1988, it has been run by the Fawcitt family.

Ther is a two-night minimum for weekend stays.

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